John 6:64

John 6:64 says, But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.  Jesus told those who were following Him that there were some who did not believe in Him.  Living in the Bible Belt, there are many people who profess Christianity, but there is little evidence that they really follow the teachings of Jesus.   Many people were following Jesus for all the wrong reasons.  They did not fool Him.  We are told that Jesus knew from the beginning who did not believe and who would betray Him.  Does this mean that He had some superhuman ability that we do not possess?  I don't think so. I think He knew because of His close personal relationship with the Father.  If we today are in a close, personal relationship with God, we may many times see those who profess to believe in Christ do not live by His teachings.  That does not mean we are to judge others who profess to be Christians, unless they begin to disrupt the church. Verse sixty-five adds, And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.  Jesus again reminded them that no one could come to Him on their own but had to be called by the Father. We know that He calls all to Him.  Notice, Jesus did not send the people away, but they left on their own.  Verse sixty-six continues, From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.  Those who follow Jesus for their own benefit will eventually tend to turn away on their own.  Even if they don't turn away in this lifetime, there will come a day when Jesus sends them away, but it will still be from their own choice. 

John 6:59

John 6:59 says, These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. Jesus tells us that He spoke these things at the synagogue at Capernaum..  Verse sixty adds, Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?  Many of His disciples said this was a hard saying and asked who could hear it.  Some things that God tells us are hard to hear.  It is much easier to hate your enemies than to love them, for example.  The disciples basically began to murmur.  It was bad enough that those who opposed Him murmured against Him, but how much worse for His disciples to do it.  We today as His followers have a tendency to murmur against God when things don't go the way we wanted.  We discount what God is asking us to do to be just too hard.  We sometimes use the expression, "It's not humanly possible."  That is most likely true.  If we are acting strictly out of our human ability, and it can be accomplished, then we feel no need of God and begin to operate under our own power.  It is only when we acknowledge that only by God's power can we accomplish what He has called us to do that we can really find success.  When God calls us to do a hard thing, remember it is not hard for Him.  We simply need to trust that what He is asking us to do can be accomplished by putting our faith in Him.  With God, all things are possible. Verse sixty-one continues, When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?  When Jesus knew the disciples murmured, He asked them if the things He had said offended them.  We need to ask ourselves if anything about the gospel offends us.  We cannot pick and choose the parts we wish to believe.  If we come for anything other than allowing Jesus to be Savior and Lord of our life, then the gospel will indeed offend us.  Jesus then told those following Him that He spoke of spiritual things. Verse sixty-two asks, "What and if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up to where He was before."  He wasn't speaking about what might possibly happen, but about what He knew had to happen.   Verse sixty-three continues, It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. He then said the Spirit quickens and brings life and the flesh profited nothing.  Jesus said the words He spoke were Spirit and they were life.  We need to spend our time listening to the words of life from the Holy Spirit.  Sometimes, we treat salvation as a get out of hell free card, but not as a call to discipleship.  Jesus knew that His physical body would soon be destroyed, but He also knew that it was necessary to complete the plan of salvation.  This does not mean we are to ignore or punish our bodies, but that we are to put faith in Christ above all else, even our physical life.  If we spend more and more time and money on the physical than the spiritual aspects of life, we may need to examine our priorities.  When following Christ becomes hard in earthly terms, what will we do? 

John 6:46

John 6:46 says, Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.  Jesus continued to tell those gathered there about His relationship with the Father and to further explain His being the living bread.  He said that no one had seen the Father, save He which is of God.  Jesus was speaking of Himself.  We don't see God when we come to Jesus as one of His followers.  We, unlike those He was speaking to, don't even see Jesus.  What God looks like is unimportant.  All that matters is Who God is.  Verse forty-seven adds, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.  Jesus said that anyone who believed on Him has everlasting life. He did not say would have some day but has everlasting life.  From the moment we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, we everlasting life with Him.  Verse forty-eight states, I am that bread of life He was the bread of life come down from heaven.  Jesus said that He was the bread of life come down from heaven.  He was not a physical bread of life like the manna though, but a spiritual bread of life.  Verse forty-nine adds, Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead   Jesus then said that their fathers who ate the manna, the physical bread come down from heaven died, but those who ate the spiritual bread of life would never die.  Verse fifty continues, This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.  Verse fifty-one states, I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Jesus then said He was that living bread, and that anyone who ate of that bread would live forever.  He then said this bread was His flesh, which He gave for the world.  Now, some who oppose Christianity claim this means cannibalism, but we know that Jesus was not speaking of literally about His flesh.  Verse fifty-two adds, The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?  Those listening to Him that day did not understand what He was talking about.  They asked how could a man do this.  They were still looking with an earthly understanding, but we must look from a spiritual understanding.  Verse fifty-three continues, Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.  Jesus then said that unless someone ate the flesh of the Son of Man and drank His blood, he had no life in him.  Some churches today believe that when they have communion that the bread and drink literally transform into the body and blood of Christ, but we know that is not what He was speaking of. Verse fifty-four says, Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.  Verse fifty-five adds, For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.  Jesus gave His body and spilled His blood on the cross to redeem mankind, and unless we believe in Him as our Savior because of that, we will not have everlasting life with Him.  Verse fifty-six continues, He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.  When we accept His gift of salvation, His giving His body and blood for us, He lives in us through the Holy Spirit.  Verse fifty-seven states., As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.  As the living Father sent Him and He lived by the Father, so shall we live by Him.  There is no other way to salvation.  Verse fifty-eight adds, This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.  He gave His body and spilled His blood on the cross to redeem mankind, and unless we believe in Him as our Savior because of that, we will not have everlasting life with Him.  When we accept His gift of salvation, when we eat this bread, which is to believe on His sacrifice for us, we shall live forever.  We must understand that this is what was meant by eating His flesh and drinking His blood.  The people around Jesus were still trying to apply a literal interpretation to what He was saying, but He was not speaking of a literal concept.  When we read the Bible, we need to ask God to help us understand what He is truly saying and not just read the words. 

John 6:41

John 6:41 says, The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.  When the Jews heard that Jesus said He was the bread of life come down from heaven, they murmured amongst themselves.  People today are still murmuring among themselves about Who Jesus was and is.  Verse forty-two adds, And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?  The Jews were too familiar with the human Jesus to recognize that He was also, not Joseph's Son by birth, but the Son of God. We will always find people murmuring about Jesus as long as they see Him as anything less than the only begotten Son of God.  Verse forty-three continues, Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves.  Jesus told them not to murmur.  If they had questions about His claim, He was standing there.  When we have questions about Jesus, we need to go to Him in prayer for the answers. There is no use in looking to the world for answers.  Verse forty-four declares, No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.  Jesus said no man cometh unto Him unless the Father draw him, and He would raise him up the last day.  Again, we could see this as the preordination of some, but we know that the Father draws all people to Jesus.  He will keep us once we are His by faith in His gift of salvation.  This had been foretold by the prophets.  Verse forty-five adds, It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.  Jesus reminded them of this, and then said, "And they shall be taught of God.  Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me."  The Jews should certainly be familiar with the prophets, and should have learned from the Father, but they didn't come to Him.  The church nor the Bible nor an acknowledgement that Jesus lived will save us.  It is only when the Father draws us to Him and we respond by placing our faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord will we be saved.